This invention relates generally to solid material comminution or disintegration apparatus having a rotary striking member and a controlled discharge mechanism and, more particularly, to apparatus for controlling the speed of a blower in a forage harvester.
The required blower speed of a forage harvester varies from crop to crop and from one crop condition to another. It is known that running a blower at a faster than required speed requires increased power and results in lower efficiencies. Thus it is desirable to have a blower capable of running at two speeds to develop optimum efficiency.
In the past, some forage harvesters have had two speed belt driven blowers which require a drive belt, driven sheave and/or drive sheave which had to be replaced by another part or switched with another part when a speed change was desired. This was time consuming, utilized extra space and may even require locating the blower in an unwanted location.
The foregoing illustrates limitations of the known prior art. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative direct to overcoming one or more of the limitations as set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is to provide apparatus which controls a single speed rotating input and provides a two-speed rotating output without the need for changing belts and sheaves.